Has anyone else noticed sky rocketing insurance costs on boats. Every time we renew or change boats it seems to jump at an alarming rate. I suppose this has some to do with the price tags rapidly rising. I assume I have the lowest risk factor I can. 38, Married, kids, no tickets, no claims etc. Drivers safety classes, boat safety etc.

But I'm now at $650 a year for the new Tige with agreed value of 65K. Little higher than I paid but want to make sure i can replace it if something were ever to happen. Thats the value the insurance guy and me came to. He wanted to do it at MSRP but I said it wasn't needed and it would have been more. Old boat was only about $350/year so it was a shock!!

Same here, live in Nor Cal, $630/year on a 2011 vlx.... I do have guaranteed replacement, if the boat is ever unrepairable they will replace it with a brand new boat, same make and model, regardless of price difference. Luxury tax was another $598 this year... gotta love California.

touche'. Suppose that is a good point. Just seemed high, compared to what I have paid in the past. But like anything else it's quickly on the way up.

Insurance is the biggest scam around. Pay pay pay..make a claim and want a little back and then you pay more. So we pay money to hope we never have to make a claim to use said money!! Risk reward for sure!!

Never used to insure my paid off toys, but anymore with out sue happy society you have to for the liability.

touche'. Suppose that is a good point. Just seemed high, compared to what I have paid in the past. But like anything else it's quickly on the way up.

Insurance is the biggest scam around. Pay pay pay..make a claim and want a little back and then you pay more. So we pay money to hope we never have to make a claim to use said money!! Risk reward for sure!!

Never used to insure my paid off toys, but anymore with out sue happy society you have to for the liability.

I am in the financial services industry and my practice includes life, health, disability and nursing home insurance. I have always chuckled at the "insurance is the biggest scam" mindset. The pure definition of insurance is to pay a defined and predictable premium, spread over a large pool of insured people, to cover an unknown and unpredictable catastrophic risk. Think of it this way. If everyone who has ever paid a premium "deserves" to collect and get back every dollar that they have ever spent on premiums, then that would leave no extra dollars for the insurance companies to pay out the catastrophic claims or even make a profit. No profit = no insurance companies. No insurance companies = taking on ALL risks by oneself. As an agent, I have personally delivered claims on life, disability and long term care benefits that far exceed the premiums that have ever been paid by those folks who have collected. Delivering a $million dollar death benefit to a widow with kids, all in exchange for a few hundred dollars of annual premium can only be supported if most folks who pay those premiums DO NOT collect. As for property and casualty insurance, I cannot speak, but think of the billions that are now being paid out for the countless people who suffered hurricane damage out east.

Labor Day weekend, 09 or 10', heading back to the launch, boat full of people at the end of the night.. Come out of a no wake zone, hit the "go buoy" and I hit the go handle, back end of the boat sinks as the bow rises - THUNK.. Off the gas, coast.. Back on teh gas and we just spin in circles..

Jump in, swim underneath and start feeling around.. Everything is flush.. No rudder, no shaft, no prop.. Sheered off flush with the gel.. The only gel damage was caused by the running gear. It was the exact perfect height to hit the running gear but not the boat. New shaft, rudder, prop, etc etc and some mild gel damage repair. $5k out the door. I wrote a check to insurance company for $500 and it was all done. I also got an upgraded prop out of the deal so I essentially paid the price of a new prop for the repair.

I got 10 years of insurance premiums in one "incident". My premium never went up.

Tim- Very well said. I sold commercial insurance for a few years before coming back into the boat business. If you think it is a rip-off or a necessary evil, don't buy it. Unless you have a loan on your boat, or a marina or private lake requires you to have liability insurance, it is your right to purchase or not purchase boat insurance.

Policies are not created equal so to ask what you are paying is like saying what is a 21' V-drive worth. Buy cheap insurance, get cheap coverage when you have a claim. I'd be happy to look over an insurance policy for anyone who is really concerned about their policy.

Hey horton, wwho do you have? That sounds like a great deal. Full coverage I presume? I am insuring 50 k also, would love to knock off a hundred bucks!

Allstate. I have my house 2 cars toy hauler and a rzr through them but they told me that the boat policy is different so i could not get additional "multiple policy" discount. So from what i understand anyone can get that price if thats accurate.

Nick State Farm told me the same thing no multiple policy discount for the boat even though we have 4 other policy's there. Couldn't tell me why just that there wasn't.

Tim you make a good point. I guess I just always though of it like that because in 22 years of paying insurance now to how ever many different policy's I have never made a claim. So guess I am the guy who isn't collecting.

Nick State Farm told me the same thing no multiple policy discount for the boat even though we have 4 other policy's there. Couldn't tell me why just that there wasn't.

Tim you make a good point. I guess I just always though of it like that because in 22 years of paying insurance now to how ever many different policy's I have never made a claim. So guess I am the guy who isn't collecting.

Wasn't in the mindset to swim back over to where the impact was and dive for it..

Heard there was a large rock submerged in the area - so I'll trust that. We had half ballast + 8 or 9 people, we were at max draft and I was just starting to get up on plane so I'm sure it was 3' under surface.

I have found it necessary to shop my boat policies every 3-5 years. All of a sudden the costs jump or they drop me. Insurance on the Florida coast can be expensive and sometimes elusive. Yes elusive...State Farm of Florida dumped me one policy at a time then said good-bye. No claims, accidents or late payments. Sounds like New Yorkers are about to get a good dose of insurance hell and a bunch of new building codes to boot.